Baby Teeth
by snape'smistress-in-law
Summary: Remus loved Lily, but he loved friendship better. So when given the choice to win her love, he handed it to James.


Baby Teeth

**A/n: Written for a challenge presented by Eine Kleine Katze. And curse Harry Potter for stealing my birthday, but it was mine first and as a present, reviews would be nice...**

She looked extremely pale lately and she would have coughing fits far too violent and often too be normal. Her usually bright green eyes had faded considerably and she fell asleep in class yesterday. There was no doubt in my mind-Lily Theresa Evans was sick, and I had to something about it.

I, Remus Jacob Lupin, am a seventeen-year-old lycanthropic student emotionally attached to a red-headed female; in other words, a teenage werewolf in love. Lily is everything I could want in a girl-she's smart, pretty, and relatively sane-what more could a guy like me want-or expect? I depend on Lily like the moon depends on the sun; if she left, I would be empty, dull, and lifeless.

But let's get back to the more pressing issue of her illness. I could tell she was miserable, and since I reflected her, I too was unhappy. So I was going to ask her what was wrong and hope to be assured that it was merely a particularly bad strain of the flu. I wasn't.

"Oh Remus, I've had no one to talk to, I'm so glad you asked!" she exclaimed, collapsing into a chair in the Gryffindor Common Room.

"You can always talk to me, Lily," I said, sitting down next to her. "What's wrong?"

Lily looked at me and hesitated. "I went to Sr. Mungo's yesterday and-I have-Alicropsy Syndrome."

I looked at her, puzzled. "Alicropsy Syndrome? I've never heard of it, what is it?"

"It's a magical disorder that breaks down your entire system. And Remus," she added, lowering her voice. "I'm _dying_."

I stared at her in shock. How _could _she be dying? If she left who would be my light? How could I possibly survive without her? "Is there a cure?" I finally managed to whisper.

Lily nodded, thank Merlin. "Yes, there's a potion," she said. "But to work, it needs the baby tooth of a werewolf and the ministry has a hard enough time tracking down werewolves, let alone ones that saved their baby teeth."

I stared at her. My mother is highly sentimental, and saved every last one of my baby teeth and magically preserved them. I had thought that was just plain weird, but now this could save Lily's life. Now all I had to do was tell her about my condition, give her my baby teeth and hope to God she'd shower me with affection for it. I could be the hero, I could save my fair maiden's heart. Only there was one problem that had kept me from Lily all these years-James.

Because of my lycanthropy, I have always been very sensitive about trust, but I found three great friends that I can trust with my life and I know they trust me equally as much. James Potter is one of those friends, and James loves Lily. Lily never showed much interest in him, and she and I were always close, but James trusted me with her. So I could tell her about my teeth and break James' heart and trust or I could let James be the hero.

"I'm really very sorry to hear that, Lily," I said.

o0o

James was standing in front of the mirror combing his hair and listening to my advice. "Make it sound like you went to great lengths to get this," I found myself saying. "If you're going to play the hero do it right."

James nodded, turning away from his reflection for a moment. "Do you really think she'll buy this?" he asked hopefully.

I nodded. "What else does she have to believe?"

James grinned a bit maniacally and returned to battling with his hair. "You're right, Moony, you're always right. Why won't it ever lie FLAT?"

I took the comb from James, who had been banging it against the counter in frustration and ran it under water. "Try that," I said, giving it back to him.

James smiled again. "Thanks,." He said. About twenty minutes later, when he was satisfied with his appearance, James straightened his robes and walked out of the bathroom. I knelt down in front of my trunk and dug out a small box containing one of my baby teeth and handed it to James.

James took the box and said, "I worked hard for this. Wrestled it out of the mouth of a transformed werewolf, maybe?"

I laughed. "Yeah, sure," I said. "And remember, don't ruffle your hair, it looks good for once.

James nodded and smiled nervously. "Thanks so much, Moony. You're the absolute best friend ever," he said before walking out of the door.

If only he knew.

o0o

Fouryears later, Lily had grown up into a beautiful woman and she looked absolutely stunning in her cream colored wedding gown. She was marrying the man who had saved her life, of course-not me, James. The man who had been her world since seventh year. The man who had replaced me.

Don't get me wrong, though, I'm not the least bit jealous, I'm very happy for them both. I'd be happier if it was me standing there and smiling nervously, waiting for my fiancé to come to me, but I know how it has to be. I don't resent it and I'm certainly not going to try to change it.

o0o

Two months after her first child, Harry James Potter, was born, she said she wanted to talk to me. "James told me what you did for him all those years ago when I was sick, giving him your tooth and all," she said. By now, she knew about my lycanthropy of course.

I smiled. "Oh, yeah. What are friends for?"

Lily smiled, bouncing Harry in her lap. "You really are a great friend, Remus. That was a very thoughtful thing to do."

I shrugged. "It was nothing," I said, butLily shook her head.

"It was something," she said, and kissed me far too briefly.

**The End**


End file.
